Report: Big Pharma raised prices on 7 of the 10 most expensive prescription medications last year with NO justification

November 17, 2021

Here’s a report that will get your blood boiling: Manufacturers raised prices of seven of the costliest prescription drugs sold in the United States last year without any apparent justification. Except, of course, profit.

The Boston-based Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) said in a report that drug manufacturers offered no evidence of new clinical benefits to justify raising their prices.

“Several of these treatments have been on the market for many years, with scant evidence that they are any more effective than we understood them to be years ago when they cost far less,” ICER Chief Medical Officer David Rind told Reuters.

In total, price hikes for the seven drugs increased drug spending by $1.67 billion in 2020. Humira, a medication prescribed for rheumatoid arthritis, accounted for most of that increase with a net price jump of 9.6% and almost $1.4 billion in increased spending.

Promacta, used to treat the rare blood disorder Aplastic anemia, saw the highest price increase of 14.1%.

It’s no wonder that the United States spends more than twice as much per person on drugs as other wealthy countries, about $1,500 per person for a total of about $350 billion in 2019.

Have your prescription medications jumped in price this past year? Use this link to share your story (and your selfie!) with Voices for Affordable Health.